


A vampire, a werewolf, and a psychic walk into a bar...

by luciet



Category: Being Human (US/Canada), The Listener (TV)
Genre: Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 04:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15502158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luciet/pseuds/luciet
Summary: When Aidan tries to help a friend at work, he stumbles into a human trafficking ring - and the IIB's investigation. Toby is surprised when the interrogation doesn't go as smoothly as usual.[Evidently continuing my penchant for niche crossovers, this one is for anyone else who enjoyed both Being Human and The Listener. I suspect that group is fairly small, but I've got you covered.]





	1. Chapter 1

Aidan stood in the living room, near the front door, as Josh paced back and forth behind the couch. “Come on, Josh. You know it’ll be fun.”

Josh paused mid-pace, one arm across his chest to support the elbow of the other, with his hand alternately on his chin or gesturing as he weighed the pros and cons with himself. “Fun? Oh-ho my friend, you could’ve used many arguments, but “fun” should not have been one of them.”

“What are you talking about? It’s almost the full moon, you haven’t been out of the house except to go to work in weeks, you’ve got to have some pent-up energy to burn.”

“Well, I mean, technically, I guess you’re right…” Josh was slowly giving in. He’d found that, short of any suggested felonies, it was always easier to give in to Aidan. 

“Yes! Yes, I am right. Come on, grab your jacket and put on some shoes, and let’s go.” Aidan already had his leather jacket and boots on, and he waited impatiently while Josh did as he was told. 

Although they left the house in similar outfits, they were the image of opposites. Where Aidan was neat and trim, Josh was just this side of sloppy. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how well his clothes fit, he couldn’t shake the air of being untidy, and it was magnified next to Aidan. Despite this, they both carried an undercurrent of strength and a hint of menace.

 

They set out in Aidan’s old Volkswagen, crawling through the side streets. 

Josh commented, “You drive like a 200 year old.”

Aidan replied, “I’m gonna ignore that one.”

“Alright." Josh shrugged and paused before asking, "So this girl-“

“Zoey.”

“Zoey, she was a patient of yours?”

“Yeah. And she said her sister went missing.”

“And you, what, you asked around?”

“Well, it’s a little bit stronger than asking, but yeah.”

Josh turned to look suspiciously at him. “What are you talking about? Is this some vampire thing I don’t know about?”

“Oh, yeah. We don’t really need to on account of the general handsomeness, but we can, well, we call it compelling.” Aidan almost looked embarrassed, or as close to it as Josh had ever seen him. 

“Hang on. On top of the immortality and the blood-drinking” - here Aidan winced- “you also get people to do whatever you want?”

Aidan scoffed. “It takes practice. I’m actually not very good at it, to be honest.”

Josh narrowed his eyes. “You don’t- compel me, do you?”

“No! Josh, I don’t- even if I wanted to, I’m not that good, AND it only works on humans.”

“Oh. That’s kind of a relief.”

“Yeah. So, I asked around, and it turns out, the ex-boyfriend is a real nasty guy. Plus, very suspiciously, he’s renting a large storage shed that he visits very regularly.”

“You think trafficking?”

“I think something.”


	2. Chapter 2

They pulled up to the storage facility in question. It was an unusually nice facility, with a guarded booth at the entrance. The guard looked up as they stopped and Aidan rolled down his window. 

She looked incredibly bored and said, “Name and number.”  
Aidan gave his most charming smile, and Josh swore he could feel time slow down marginally as he said, “I’m here for a friend. You want to let me in. It won’t be a problem.”

The guard squinted slightly but offered no resistance. She smiled languidly back. “Of course, sir.” The gate opened, and Aidan pulled through.

Josh was torn between awe and snickering. He settled on a dramatic, “These are not the droids you’re looking for.” 

Aidan glared at him. “If you’re going to mock me, at least get the quote right.” He shushed Josh’s retort as he parked the car. “This is it.”

They peered through the windshield at an inconspicuous looking storage unit, larger than the others and attached to just one other unit. 

“So what’s the plan, Obi-Wan?”

“No. That is not going to be a thing.”

Josh sighed. “Okay. But what is the plan?”

“I figure we can scope it out a bit. If it’s empty, we take a look. If it’s just the victims, we help them out, and if it’s bad guys, we take them out.”

“Really no shades of gray for you, are there?”

Aidan rolled his eyes. “You have a better plan?”

There was a pause before Josh replied sulkily, “No.”

They got out of the car in unison and quietly pressed the doors closed. Aidan set out toward the unit at a slow but normal walk, and turned back to see Josh creeping forward in an attempt at stealth.

“Jesus.” He stage-whispered so Josh could hear him, “Josh! What are you doing?”

Josh froze, then stood up straight. “I’m being sneaky.”

“No, you’re not. You look like an idiot. And if we get caught, it’s easier to explain walking than ‘sneaking’.”

Josh weighed this, decided it was valid, and jogged to catch up with Aidan. “Sorry.”

They reached the unit, and Josh turned around to keep watch while Aidan pressed an ear to the metal door. Josh looked over his shoulder to ask, “Anything?”

Aidan nodded and stepped toward Josh. “At least two people. One’s nervous, but there’s no talking.” When Josh looked confused, he added, “Heartbeats. Come on, Josh.” Understanding dawned over Josh’s face, and he nodded. 

Aidan bent down to grab the handle, noticing that the lock had been rigged to work from the inside as well. He counted slowly to three, then yanked the door upward, wrenching the catch from the lock and revealing the unit’s contents. 

It was set up as a poorly-furnished bedroom. A blindfolded and gagged girl lay on the bed, and a young man was tied to a chair. Aidan started to rush in, when he heard the police. They must have driven in without sirens, but were now proceeding together toward the unit. “Shit! Josh, get out of here!”

Josh frowned angrily. “I’m not leaving you!” 

“I can handle it! But if the police try to keep us too long, you’ll hit the full moon in jail, and nobody wants that. You have to run, now!” 

Josh, realizing Aidan was right yet again, took off toward the fence, scrambling up and over it. 

The police came charging in with very little actual warning, and he immediately stepped back with his hands raised. He wasn’t in the mood to pretend to be injured by a gunshot and to cover up his healing. He went with them quietly, allowed the handcuffs to be placed around his wrists, and soon found himself in the overnight lockup with a prostitute and a petty thief. He glanced at the clock out of habit: 8 hours since he’d last fed.


	3. Chapter 3

Aidan didn’t dare fall asleep in the lockup, and he wasn’t that tired anyway, so he spent the night staring at the walls and deciding how to play the situation.

Luckily, they pulled him out fairly early the next morning and left him alone in an interrogation room, cuffed to the table. Although it had now been 14 hours since his last meal, he still had to be careful to not break the cuffs on accident as he moved. As the time ticked by and he realized they were leaving him in to supposedly sweat, he leaned back and started counting dots on the ceiling.

 

Toby walked into the interrogation room to find a surly looking man in his early thirties. He appeared to be counting the dots on the ceiling tiles. It was impossible not to notice how pale he was, the effect exacerbated by the harsh lighting and his dark wardrobe. 

As Toby drew closer and took a seat at one of the metal chairs across from him, the man didn’t tilt his head down to look at him at all. Unusual; even the most confident of suspects still keeps up with their surroundings. If Toby had been watching the man’s nose very carefully, he might have seen the nostrils flare at his entry and again as he had scraped the chair out from the table and back in again, but Toby wasn’t here to inspect suspects’ noses. 

He began with a friendly smile. No reason to start things any more hostile than necessary. “Aidan Waite? Can I call you Aidan?”

Aidan finally leaned forward, in a motion sharper and faster than Toby expected. “Sure.” He smiled, but it was the unfriendly smile of a predator. Toby found himself unconsciously leaning away from him. Aidan picked up on his discomfort and tried to rearrange his face into a real smile, but was having difficulty between the cuffs and going on 18 hours without food. He realized that he was probably just making it worse and stopped trying. 

It couldn’t have been all bad, though, because Toby leaned forward again and set a thin file on the table between them. “Thanks Aidan. I’d just like to ask you about last night. I understand you were found in a storage unit with a couple of kidnapping victims. Can you tell me what you were doing there?” Here, Toby took a moment to focus on reading Aidan. He knew that the first question was the best chance to get the truth, before the suspect started rearranging events to fit a lie.

He wasn’t prepared for the read. He could only get snippets, as they flashed past quickly. He caught a nervous-looking man towards whom he felt very positively, and a scared girl who resembled the woman found in the unit. There was an undercurrent of desire, hunger, and the smell of blood lingered in his nose, like the memory of a long-consumed tiramisu, made sweeter by abstinence.

He pulled back sharply. What was this? He was surprised by his difficulty in getting a good clean read. The thoughts were moving much faster than usual. Although he’d read serial killers before and was no stranger to violence, this had a far different tone. He waited for Aidan to start talking. Almost unconsciously, he felt for a second read, and found only the unabated hunger. 

Aidan’s interruption was a relief. He began, “I work at the hospital.”

“Okay.”

“I overheard one of our patients talking about how her sister had gone missing.”

Toby waited patiently. He wanted to press, but he knew it was best to let the suspect tell the story themselves.

“I asked around. I know a lot of people. I thought I could help. I went to the police, but they said it hadn’t been long enough to be a missing persons.” Aidan paused here and made a show of adjusting the cuffs on his wrists. “I heard about the ex, found he had a storage unit, and went to check it out. I found the girl held against her will. I don’t know about the guy. That’s when you all showed up.” Short and sweet, with details to a minimum. Liars give too many details: Aidan knew that all too well.

Toby could tell that this wasn’t going anywhere until he could press Aidan with concrete details. He made a point of glancing at the clock and said, “Okay, why don’t we take a quick break. I’ll see about getting the cuffs removed. Is there anything I can get for you? Some water maybe?” 

Aidan smiled the small, secret half-smile of an inside joke and politely declined. Despite his outward composure, Toby could feel a sense of anxiety and the unfamiliar overwhelming hunger again. He quickly left the room.

Aidan sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, without Bishop, without a solid representation in the police force, he was trapped here telling half-truths. He couldn’t even really consider trying to compel anyone: he knew he wasn’t really practiced enough to compel one person at any level more than he’d done with the guard, let alone all the people attached to this investigation. He leaned back to resume counting ceiling dots. There was nothing he could do but wait.


	4. Chapter 4

Toby returned a few minutes later with a blonde detective in tow. She was clearly the bad cop, or was trying very hard to convince people she was, dressed in a tasteful but conservative suit and with a sleek cropped haircut. She strode in confidently, setting a glass of water in front of him before reaching over to smoothly unlock the cuffs. Taking two steps back, she leaned casually on the table, obviously in a position meant to appear relaxing but intimidating, keeping her well above the suspect. Toby had returned to the chair opposite Aidan.

 

“I’m Sgt. McCluskey.” 

 

Aidan looked up at her. He flashed his winningest smile. “Thanks for taking the cuffs off.”

 

She was clearly taken aback by the smile. Aidan briefly wondered what Toby had said about him. “You’re welcome. Can we go over your story again?”

 

Aidan pursed his lips. “My _story_? It’s the truth.” He shook his head and slumped down a bit in his chair. He could handle this- he’d certainly handled worse- but on an empty stomach, trying to clean up this mess was turning out to be much more annoying than he could've predicted. “Listen, I just wanted to make sure the sister was okay.”

 

Although he was clearly getting frustrated, Michelle was surprised that he didn’t show any classic signs of fatigue or lying. He wasn’t sweating, no veins popping. She frowned and glanced at Toby, who gave the half-nod that meant _he’s telling the truth_. 

 

Aidan had decided he’d had enough. “Hey, I’m glad you’re being all civil right now, but you’ve had me for almost 24 hours. I don’t know what you’ve got going on here, but I’ve been cooperating: I haven’t asked for a lawyer, I’ve answered all your questions. What more do you want from me?” He focused on Michelle, who was in turn watching Toby.

 

Toby had a strange look on his face. He was simultaneously focused seemingly on a space just behind Aidan and occasionally wincing. Aidan’s thoughts had become too fast and too distracted by hunger to read. He looked almost apologetically at Michelle, who now frowned at him. She’d never seen him quite like this before. Aidan watched the exchanges with interest. Clearly there was something going on here. He’d met ghosts, and werewolves, and once, a very long time ago, a psychic who made a living telling futures by reading minds. Come to think of it, she looked a lot like Toby…

 

Michelle looked back at Aidan to answer his question. “We just want to get to the bottom of things. I do apologize for holding you. Can we get you anything else?”

 

“No, thank you. Actually- could I speak to Toby alone for a moment?”

 

Michelle blinked in surprise, but looked at Toby for confirmation. He shrugged and agreed. She turned and left, gently closing the door behind her. Aidan waited a moment, until he could see her through the one-way glass.

 

He turned to focus on Toby, who looked confused. Aidan took a deep breath and yelled as loud as he could manage - in his head. A trick he’d always wanted to try. Very satisfyingly, Toby jumped. Aidan held back a smirk as Toby fought to cover it up. 

 

“I, uh, thought I saw a wasp for a second.”

 

Aidan replied with thought, deliberately slowed down to a human pace. _We both know that’s not true._

 

“What’s going on? How do you know…” Toby trailed off, knowing the interrogations were recorded as a matter of standard routine. He gestured vaguely at his head. 

 

“You remind me of someone I used to know who,” Aidan made a similar gesture. “She got that same look.”

 

“What? Who?” Toby was, as always, desperate to know more about his condition.

 

Aidan turned away slightly. “Doesn’t matter now, it was a while ago.”

 

Toby frowned as he caught a very quick image of a woman in period dress. Civil war era? He wasn’t up on early American clothing styles. He brushed it aside for the moment, more interested in what was going on with Aidan. “You know I got that- when you say ‘a while’- you can’t seriously mean…” he trailed off again.

 

Aidan gave a wry smile, and again allowed some deliberate thought through. _I do mean._ He added a few plain images from throughout the centuries, but left it at that, unwilling to give up his secret so easily. Perhaps Toby would believe he was simply immortal, without any bloodsucking side-effects.

 

“Wow man, that’s crazy. All that time…”

 

Another wry smile. “Yeah. Crazy.” 


End file.
